Meet Wellington’s business leaders who have the mayor’s ear

Saturday, 25 May 2024

Ten of the city’s top businesspeople were named this week as part of an exclusive club: the Mayoral Business Group.

The group has been established by Mayor Tory Whanau to give her a chief-executive’s-eye-view of how the city is faring. There will be quarterly meetings to discuss upcoming projects and give the mayor a read on the mood in the business community.

Business has been a tricky subject for Whanau recently, with an outcry over transport projects including the plan to remove cars from central city streets and drawn-out changes to Thorndon Quay.

The group members range from the giants of Wellington business like Sharesies and Willis Bond, through to smaller players such as Welly Collective and August Eatery. While the leaders appointed to the group share an enthusiasm for the city, they have different perspectives on how it should move forward.

Group member Libby Dearnley is the owner and founder of the Welly Collective shops – a grassroots success story that has expanded to six stores around the region and sells goods from more than 150 small businesses.

Dearnley said her focus was inner-city improvements such as the Courtenay Place upgrade, which would make the central city a better place for people to spend time. Her first involvement with council had been submitting in favour of the Reading Cinema deal.

“I'm not up to scratch on all the council doings, but we can help have that people's voice, that business voice and just tell them what we're actually seeing on a day-to-day basis.”

For Dearnley, perception was a big part of the problem. For instance when people saw that Welly Collective was open on Courtenay Place on a Friday night, they thought it must be dangerous to be open during those hours.

The group had its first meeting on Thursday, s mainly an introductory session to get to know one another.

The group was “not a revolution”, said developer and head of Prime Property Group Eyal Aharoni, but he could still see the positive side of giving direct feedback to the council.

“I've got quite a few ideas on what needs to be done. And I don't anticipate everything to be adopted, but this gives me an opportunity to put my opinion straight to the decision-makers.”

For Aharoni, one of the biggest problems facing Wellington was people working from home instead of coming into the city. He hoped the council could work with businesses to lower costs, did not believe cars should be removed from the Golden Mile, and said central city security needed to be a priority.

Fringe Festival director Vanessa Stacey was another businessperson on the group. She had decades of experience in the city’s art scene, and was the leader of the Creative Capital Arts Trust, which organises events including CubaDupa.

She would be representing the creative sector at the table and hoped to see the city develop a vibrant central hub, which was lacking since the many building closures in Civic Square.

“We’re not all going to agree on everything,” she said, but it was fantastic to have so many different perspectives in one room.

“So if [the mayor] can find a happy medium within that, so keeping everybody's voices heard, that's going to be a really positive thing for the city,” Stacey said.

Te Rau Kupenga described himself as “young to Wellington”, having only been in the city for 20 years. “I think it’s the best city in the world.”

Kupenga was the lead consultant at Te Amokura, which specialises in te ao Māori perspectives and strategy. Previously he was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

He wanted to see the city embrace its natural advantages more – both in terms of the natural beauty of the coastline and green spaces, and in terms of its place as the capital and the seat of government.

“This is the place which is drawing all this talent for the government. They’re going to live here, they’re going to eat here, be entertained here.

“We’re different to Auckland. They’re vast, big population they’ve got the big commercial hubs. But we’ve got government, we’ve got some of the greatest legal minds, we’ve got the greatest public sector minds.”

Melissa McGhie, a commercial property consultant at Rolle Property and local committee member of the Property Council, said she was impressed with the range of people with a passion for Wellington in the new group.

Businesses had been asking for more engagement with the council for a long time, and it was exciting to see the group come together.

“My concerns are that the cost of doing business in Wellington is higher than any other city and it is stalling investment in the city,” McGhie said. She hoped that the collaboration could benefit all businesses.

Brooke Roberts, co-founder and co-CEO of Sharesies, said Pōneke had always been a creative place and was home to some of the country’s best entrepreneurs. From day one, Sharesies had wanted to be based in the city.

“I am looking forward to continuing to help a new generation of businesses flourish as part of the mayoral business group.”

Justin McKenzie, owner of cocktail bars Hawthorn Lounge and Cuckoo Emporium, will bring the nightlife perspective to the table.

While he wasn’t happy with everything the council did, he felt it was important to be in the room and share his perspective. His focus as a bar owner was revitalising the city, particularly the Courtenay Place area.

McKenzie, like Dearnley, was a supporter of the Reading Cinemas deal and had been disappointed to see it fall over.

Mark McGuinness, chairperson and managing director of property developers Willis Bond, said he would rather not comment on the group at this early stage. “I’d rather talk about results rather than what we’re going to do.”

Jessie Wong, founder of designer handbag brand Yu Mei, and Lisa Lee, co-owner of August Eatery, were also named as group members. They could not be reached for comment.